Friday, June 30, 2023

Fly Away - Island Batik June Ambassador Challenge


This month Island Batik Ambassadors were asked to create a project using Flying Geese blocks and an Island Batik Precuts we received in our Ambassador box.



I used the 2.5 inch strip pack "Celebrate" by Kathy Engle and paired it with Island Batik solid Black.
If you need to get your hands on these prints you can find them in these shops:

Hancocks of Paducah, KY
Stitch Therapy, AL
Nine Patch Fabrics, VA
Sew What Fabrics/Batiks Etc., VA
People, Places, & Quilts,  SC
Creekside Quilts, OR
A Royal Quilt Shoppe, LLC, SC
EQuilter.com, CO
Kapaia Stitchery, HI
Sew Together Quilt Shop, MA
Bob's Variety, AZ
Mulqueen Sewing & Fabric Centers, AZ


You can cut 15 Geese from one 2.5 inch strip of fabric. That's a lot of Geese from one strip pack! 600 to be exact!  





I needed 294 so I used half the strip pack.  The other half was used for my binding.





I only had a vague idea of what I wanted to do with these geese at first.
I knew I wanted them to be somewhat curvy, but still wanted to stick with traditional geese blocks.




Once I figured out the motion I wanted, I played around in EQ8 to get exact sizes for the black background rectangles.






I was happy to have a bag of Hobbs Heirloom Black batting in my Ambassador box. 
It is so nice for quilts with lots of black.   










The piecing and quilting were done with a 90/14 Microtex Schmetz needle.
I use these needles all the time and have never had any trouble sewing with Batik fabrics.







The colorful binding is the icing on the cake!  I cut a bunch of 8 inch strips from the other half of the strip pack and sewed them together to create all the pops of color around the edge.  And a 2.5 inch strip makes a nice wide binding when turned to the front of the quilt.





The thread looks grey or white on my monitor, but it is actually an aqua color.  It really pops on the black!




The quilting pattern in the black background is what ever came to mind as I was moving the needle along.  Some spots make me think of water.






I thought of  naming this quilt Geese in the Night.





Or Geese Passing in the Night, since some geese are going the opposite direction.




With some of the quilting giving off a water vibe, I thought about naming the quilt Geese Passing in the Night Over the Lake...





But that is pretty long.




I guess I'll stick with Geese in the Night.



Happy Quilting!


=^..^=




2 comments:

  1. I'd say you met the Island Batik challenge with grand style. I love the colors on the black background. Quilting with aqua thread is so pretty. Making binding out of leftover strips really makes great use of most of the pack of fabrics. Enjoy your weekend.

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  2. This is gorgeous, Leah!! Celebrate really pops on the black solid!

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